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- South Africa’s labour legislation is highly regulated, creating a challenging environment for employers.
- No employee may work more than 45 normal hours per week.
- If a Sunday is a normal working day, the employee must be paid at one and a half times the normal hourly rate.
- An employee is entitled to 21 consecutive days of paid annual leave.
- Retirement age is not prescribed by law.
South Africa’s labour legislation is highly regulated, creating a challenging environment for employers. This article provides a summary of the basic rights of employees earning below the earnings threshold, as provided for by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997 (Act 75 of 1997), or BCEA, as amended.
The following are key points to remember:
Normal working hours
No employee may work more than 45 normal hours per week. Furthermore, an employee may not be required to work more than nine normal hours per day for a five-day week, or more than eight normal hours for a six-day or more week.
Overtime
Overtime is limited to ten hours per week, and no more than three hours per day. Payment for overtime is one and a half times the employee’s normal hourly rate.
Meal intervals
Employees must be granted a 60-minute meal interval after five consecutive working hours, which can be reduced to 30 minutes by agreement.
Work on a Sunday
If a Sunday is a normal working day, the employee must be paid at one and a half times the normal hourly rate. There must be a written agreement to this effect, usually in the employee’s contract. If a Sunday is not a normal working day, and the employee is required to work on a Sunday, the employee must be paid double the normal hourly rate.
Public holidays
If a public holiday falls on a day on which the employee would normally work, an employer must pay:
- Employees who do not work on the public holiday, at least their ordinary daily wage.
- Employees who do work on the public holiday, at least double the daily wage or their normal daily wage, plus an hourly rate for the actual hours worked, whichever is the greatest.
If an employee works on a public holiday and he/she normally would not work on this day, the employer must pay him/her an amount equal to his/her daily wage plus hourly wage for each hour worked on the public holiday.
Leave
- An employee is entitled to 21 consecutive days of paid annual leave per cycle, or the parties can agree that annual leave will be calculated at one day’s paid leave for every 17 days worked.
- An employee is entitled to six weeks of paid sick leave during each three-year cycle. In the first six months an employee is entitled to one day’s paid sick leave for every 26 days worked.
- An employee employed for more than four months, and working at least four days per week is entitled to three days of paid family responsibility leave per year when the employee’s child is sick or the employee’s spouse, life partner, parents, adoptive parents, grandparents, child, adoptive child, grandchild, or sibling passed away.
- A pregnant employee is entitled to four consecutive months’ unpaid maternity leave and can submit a claim to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).
- Parental leave: The employee is entitled to ten consecutive days of unpaid parental leave at the birth of a child and can submit a claim to the UIF. (Note that an employee who is taking maternity leave cannot also take parental leave).
- Adoption leave: An employee who adopts a child aged two years of younger is entitled to ten consecutive weeks of unpaid adoption leave and can claim UIF.
- Commissioning parental leave: An employee whose child is born through surrogacy is entitled to ten consecutive weeks of unpaid commissioned parental leave and can claim UIF.
Read more about the new Expropriation Act.
Retirement age
Retirement age is not prescribed by law. Employers are encouraged to determine the applicable retirement age and include it in the employment contract or a policy. – Christiaan Swart, senior legal advisor, LWO Employers Organisation
The LWO Employers Organisation assists employers to comply with labour law, and to use it to their advantage to protect their business. As a registered employers’ organisation with the Department of Employment and Labour, the LWO has the right to represent members at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). Take note that this article is not legal advice – consult one of our legal advisors about any specific legal problem or matter. For more information, email Christiaan Swart at christiaan@lwo.co.za, info@lwo.co.za, or visit www.lwo.co.za.
